Polishing machines for wood plates and the like



M. SCHMlDT Aug. 16, 1 960 POLISHING MACHINES FOR WOOD PLATES AND THELIKE Filed June 24, 1958 United rates Patent POLISHING MACHINES FOR WOODPLATES AND THE LIKE Mair Schmidt, Karlsruhe, Baden, Germany, assignor toFrrma B. Raimann G.m.b.I-I., Freiburg, Breisgau, Germany Filed June 24,1958, Ser. No. 744,091

Claims priority, application Germany July 1, 1957 7 Claims. (Cl. 15'102)The present invention relates to polishing machines, and moreparticularly to machines, operating with bufi wheels, for polishing ofwood plates and similar products.

It is already known to employ machines for polishing the surfaces ofwood plates in which the work piece is manually held against a buifconsisting of textile mate rial and is reciprocated by an operator whilein contact with the rotating buff wheel. In certain other polishingmachines of known construction, the buff wheel oscillates above astationary work piece or blank. In a still further type of apparatus ofthis general character, largesurface rotary bufi wheels are swingablymounted at two sides of a turret which alternatingly moves their largepolishing surfaces into sliding contact with the stationary work piece.A drawback common to such known apparatus is in that they requireconstant supervision, manual feeding of the plates, and are not suitedfor polishing of plates having greatly differing dimensions.

An important object of the present invention is to provide a machine forpolishing the surfaces of wood plates and like products which is fullyautomatic, and which may be utilized with plates of various sizes andthicknesses.

Another object of the invention is to provide a machine of the abovedescribed characteristics which is constructed with a view to subjecteach work piece to a series of polishing actions.

A further object of the invention is to provide a polishing machine forplates made of wood or another material which is so constructed thatthepolishing means perform more than one motion While in contact with thework piece.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a polishingmachine of the above described character which is so constructed as toallow rapid and convenient interchange and adjustment of such componentparts which are subjected to greatest wear and tear during the polishingoperation.

An additional object of the invention is to provide in the polishingmachine as above set forth means for automatically or manually supplyinga polishing medium to the surfaces of polishing means or directly to thesurface of a work piece.

The above and certain other objects of the invention are attained by theprovision of a machine which comprises essentially at least oneelongated driven roller formed of a plurality of coaxially disposedbundles of buff wheels, and a driven conveyor for moving the work piecesat a fixed speed into contact with the polishing roller 01' rollers.

By providing separate drive means for the polishing rollers and for theconveyor, a fully automatic mode of operation is attained, the novelmachine requiring very little supervision and, due to the multipleadjustability of polishing rollers, may be utilized with plates ofgreatly differing thicknesses.

If more than one polishing roller is utilized, the roller axles arepreferably disposed in parallelism above and transversely of theconveyor system which leads the work pieces into contact with therollers, and the rollers are "ice preferably driven at different angularspeeds. It is advisable to drive the rollers in such manner that thespeed of the roller first to contact a work piece is less than the speedof the next adjacent roller, and so forth.

The rollers are installed in a housing, preferably in the shape of aninverted receptacle, and are adjustable with respect thereto. Means isprovided for swingably supporting the roller axles in the housing andfor facilitating rapid removal of the rollers, when desired. Stillfurther, the just described means permdts the removal of one or morerollers from contact with the advancing work pieces, if the operatordesires to utilize less than the total number of rollers for a polishingoperation.

The housing itself is adjustable in directions toward and away from theconveyed work pieces, and supports one or more pressing rollers, usuallycovered with felt or other suitable soft substance, the pressing rollersbeing rigidly or yieldably installed in the housing in such manner thatthey hold the work pieces while the latter are subjected to thepolishing action of rotating buif rollers.

Each polishing roller is preferably driven by its own motor with themotors so installed that they can follow the displacements of housingand/ or the polishing rollers.

The machine further comprises means for supplying a polishing medium tothe rollers or directly to the surfaces of work pieces. The delivery ofpolishing medium, preferably a fluid, may be caused by hand pressureover suitable lever mechanism or in a fully automatic way.

In addition to being movable toward and away from the advancing workpieces, the polishing rollers may be so mounted that they perform axialmovements in directions substantially transverse to direction ofadvancement of the work pieces. Thus, the movement of each roller may bea composite movement consisting of rotation about its own axis and oftransversely reciprocating motions with respect to the advancing workpieces.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for theinvention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. Theinvention itself, however, together with additional objects andadvantages thereof, will be best understood from the followingdescription of a specific embodiment when read in connection with theaccompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is side elevational view of the machine as seen from line I--I ofFig. 2 in the direction of arrows, one side wall of the roller housingand of a gear casing being broken away for better illustration ofcomponent parts;

Fig. 2 is top plan view of the machine as seen from line 11-11 in Fig. 1in the direction of arrows, the cover plate of the housing being brokenaway; and

Fig. 2a is a partial top plan View showing a modified embodiment.

Referring now in greater detail to the drawing, the polishing machinetherein shown comprises a frame or base 1 mounting a band conveyor 3provided with spaced followers or lugs 2. The conveyor travels oversprockets 2a, 2b and has its upper run disposed in a horizontal plane.Sprocket 2a is driven by an electric motor 4 over a suitable gearingindicated by reference numeral 5.

In the upper run of conveyor 3, followers 2 consecutively engage aseries of work pieces or blanks 14, here shown as wood plates, whichtravel in the direction of arrows A when the motor 4 is in operation.Members 14 may be loaded onto conveyor 3 by a suitable automaticdispensing device (not shown) or by hand. Similarly, polished plates atthe discharge (left-hand) end of conveyor 3 may be collected by anautomatic apparatus of any known construction.

A boxwshaped housing 6 is vertically adjustably installed above theupper run of conveyor 3. Its underside is open, thus enabling buffrollers 11 to protrude therebeneath into contact with the traveling workpieces 14. Housing 6 is adjustable in vertical directions by a handwheel 7 which operates four Worm drives 8 'disposed at the four cornerso member 6. Thus, drives 8 together with hand wheel 7 constitute fourjacks, each of which comprises a threaded spindle 9 having its upper endrotatably connected to a bracket 6a fixed to the underside of housing 6at one of the latters four corners, the spindle extending through atapped bore in the stationary casing 812 and carrying at its lower end aworm wheel 8:: meshing with a worm shaft 80 extending transverselyacross and beneath the upper run of conveyor 3. Worm shafts 8c of therespective leftand right-hand worm drives 8 carry pulleys 8d (only oneshown in phantom lines in Fig. 1), these pulleys being connected by achain or belt 1% also shown in phantom lines in Fig. 1. Thus, shafts 80may be driven in unison by means of hand wheel 7 in .a manner to causeuniform vertical displacements of housing 6 toward or away from theupper run of conveyor 3, depending upon the direction in which the wheel'7 is rotated.

Two bufif rollers 11, each consisting of a series of bundled coaxiallydisposed textile discs, are mounted on parallel axles 18, each of whichhas its ends rotatably received in a pair of arms 12, 12a. Arms 12, 12aare swingable about their shafts 13 to adjust the height of rollers 11in dependency on the thickness of work pieces 14, or to move one or bothrollers away from contact with the work pieces. Vertical movements ofrollers 11 are entirely independent from vertical movements of housing6, this being brought about by a pair of hand wheels 15 and two liftingjacks 16 carried by the machine base 1. Each jack 16 comprises a bevelgear 16a meshing with a second bevel gear 1612 at the lower end of atubular member 160 having a tapped bore for reception of a threadedspindle 17 whose upper end abuts against the bearing 22 at one end of ashaft 18. Spindles 17 being in non-rotating engagement with bearings 22,and tubular members 160 being rotatable in their cases 16d, any rotationof hand wheels 15 will cause vertical displacements of the spindles ininternally threaded rotating members ldc whereby the upper end of aspindle 17, acting against the bearing 22 and .thereover against shaft18 of a buif wheel 11, lifts or lowers the latter depending upon thedirection in which a hand wheel 15 rotates.

Shafts 13 are turnably mounted in bearings carried by the housing 6.Obviously, suitable cutouts (not shown) are provided to permitoscillation of axles 18 about the adjacent shaft 13 when the one or theother hand wheel 15 is operated.

Rollers 11 are driven by a pair of electric motors 19 over belts orchains 19a. Each motor 1'9 is rigidly mounted on a plate or support 21with the latter pivotally connected to a stationary base plate 20. Thus,the moors are free to follow vertical displacements of buff rollers 11.As before mentioned, the left-hand roller 11 is preferably driven at aspeed exceeding that of the right-hand roller which latter is the firstto come into contact with a work piece 14 when the conveyor advances inthe direction of arrows A. Of course, both rollers 11 may be driven by asingle adjustably mounted motor over suitable reducing gearing to rotateeach roller at a different speed.

Arms 12a not only are pivotable about but also in a plane passingthrough the axes of their supporting shafts 13 so as to be movable,together with bearings 22, away from contact with the ends of rollershafts 18. It will be noted that one side of housing 6 (at the bottom ofFig. 2) is formed with an extension to permit such lateral movements ofarms 12a. By so mounting shafts .18, rollers 11 may be interchanged in avery simple and convenient manner by simply pivoting the arms 12a andbearings 22 about pins 13a in directions away from the ends of shafts18.

Work pieces 14 are pressed against the upper run of conveyor 3 by meansof felt rollers 23 which are mounted at the underside of housing 6QThese preferably but not necessarily spring-biased rollers 23 (springsnot shown) become more important when the conveyor system 3 operateswithout followers 2.

A polishing medium is supplied to rollers 11 by trayshaped dispensingdevices 24 which are connected with hand actuatable levers 25 so thatthe latter may press the trays against the respective rollers .11whenever necessary. Of course, the usually liquid polish may bedischarged from trays or receptacles 24 automatically at certainintervals, if desired, either onto the rollers 11 or directly onto thework pieces 14.

In operation, followers 2 continuously entrain plates 14 into contactwith buff rollers 11 each of which is rotated at a different speed. Thevelocity of conveyor 3 and the number and pressure of rollers 11 are soselected that the upper surfaces of plates 14, retained in desiredposition by felt coated rollers 23 while passing beneath housing 6, arefully polished when the work pieces emerge at the left-hand side of thehousing. The height of rollers 23 together with the housing 6 isadjusted by hand wheel 7, hand Wheels 15 on the other hand allowingindependent adjustments of rollers 11 with respect to the housing andwork pieces 14. Motors 19 follow the displacements of rollers 11, forexample, by their own weight when the rollers are moved in downwarddirection, and by the tension of belts 19a when one or both hand wheels15 are rotated in directions to cause movements of one or both rollers11 in opposing direction away from the upper run of conveyor 3.

It will be understood that a single roller 11 or more than two rollersmay be utilized, and that the dimensions of members 11 and of conveyorsystem 3 will be so selected that the machine may accommodate plates ofgreatly differing dimensions. Also, and as above pointed out, one of therollers may be moved away from the contact with advancing work pieces.It is equally Within the scope of my invention to provide for axiallyreciprocating movements of the rollers in directions transverse to thedirection of advancing work pieces. In such a case, a cam 26 formed witha cam groove 27 (Fig. 2a) may be mounted on each shaft 18 andcooperating with a pin or cam follower 28 mounted on the machine frame 1so that shaft 18 and the buff roller 11 mounted thereon is reciprocatedin axial direction during rotation of the shaft.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist ofthe present invention that others can by applying current knowledgereadily adapt it for various applications without omitting featuresthat, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essentialcharacteristics of the generic and specific aspects of this invention,and, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to becomprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of thefollowing claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A machine for polishing surfaces of wood plates and like productscomprising, in combination, a base; conveyor means supported by saidbase for advancing the plates in a plane; .a housing supported by saidbase and having an open side adjacent to and facing the plane in whichsaid plates are advanced; a pair of buff roller means in said housingand being each turnable about an axis substantially parallel to saidplane and extending in a direction transverse to the direction in whichthe plates are advanced; adjustable connecting means operativelyconnected to said housing and said base for moving said housing towardand away from said plane; and means operatively connected to said baseand each of said buff roller means for independently adjusting thedistance of each bulf roller means axis from said plane.

2. A machine for polishing surfaces of wood plates and like productscomprising, in combination, a base; conveyor means supported by saidbase for advancing the plates in a plane in one direction; a housingsupported by said base and having an open side adjacent to and facingthe plane in which said plates are advanced; a pair of buff rollers insaid housing and having each an axle substantially parallel to saidplane and extending in a direction transverse to the direction in whichthe plates are advanced; drive means for driving said pair of buffrollers independently from each other .at different circumferentialspeeds, the bulf rollers leading in said one direction being driven witha smaller circumferential speed than the other buff roller; adjustableconnecting means operatively connected to said housing and said base formoving said housing toward and away from said plane; and meansoperatively connected tosaid base and each of said axles forindependently adjusting the distance of each axle from said plane.

3. A machine for polishing surfaces of wood plates and like productscomprising, in combination, a base; conveyor means supported by saidbase for advancing the plates in a plane in one direction; a housingsupported by said base and having an open side adjacent to and facingthe plane in which said plates are advanced; a pair of bulf rollers insaid housing and having each an axle substantially parallel to saidplane and extending in a direction transverse to the direction in whichthe plates are advanced; drive means for driving said pair of bulfrollers independently from each other at different circumferentialspeeds and for reciprocating said .bufi rollers in axial direction, thebuff rollers leading in said one direction being driven with a smallercircumferential speed than the other buff roller; adjustable connectingmeans operatively connected to said housing and said base for movingsaid housing toward and away from said plane; and means operativelyconnected to said base and each of said axles for independentlyadjusting the distance of each axle from said plane.

4. A machine for polishing surfaces of wood plates and like productscomprising, in combination, a base; conveyor means supported by saidbase for advancing the plates in a plane; a housing supported by saidbase and having an open side adjacent to and facing the plane in whichsaid plates are advanced; a pair of buff rollers in said housing andhaving each an axle substantially parallel to said plane and extendingin a direction transverse to the direction in which the plates areadvanced; at least one pressure roller means mounted on said housing forrotation about an axis substantially parallel to said axles and adaptedto engage the top surface of the wood plates to be polished for holdingthese plates against said conveyor means; adjustable connecting meansoperatively connected to said housing and said base for moving saidhousing toward and away from said plane; and means operatively connectedto said base and each of said axles for independently adjusting thedistance of each axle from said plane.

5. A machine for polishing surfaces of wood plates and like productscomprising, in combination, a base; conveyor means supported by saidbase for advancing the plates in a plane in one direction; a housingsupported by said base and having an open side adjacent to and facingthe plane in which said plates are advanced; a pair of buff rollers insaid housing and having each an axle substantially parallel to saidplane and extending in a direction transverse to the direction in whichthe plates are advanced; drive means for driving said pair of buifrollers independently from each other at different circumferentialspeeds, the buif rollers leading in said one direction being driven witha smaller circumferential speed than the other buff roller, said drivemeans comprising a pair of motors, each mounted on a plate tiltable,respectively, about axes substantially parallel to said axles and spacedfrom the center of gravity of said motors, respectively, and beingconnected to said axles, respectively, by an endless drive element;adjustable connecting means operatively connected to said housing andsaid base for moving said housing toward and away from said plane; andmeans operatively connected to said base and each of said axles forindependently adjusting the distance of each axle from said plane.

6. A machine for polishing surfaces of wood plates and like productscomprising, in combination, a base; conveyor means supported by saidbase for advancing the plates in a plane; a housing supported by saidbase and having an open side adjacent to and facing the plane in whichsaid plates are advanced; a pair of buff rollers in said housing andhaving each an axle substantially parallel to said plane and extendingin a direction transverse to the direction in which the plates areadvanced; means in said housing adjacent said buff rollers for applyingpolishing material thereto; adjustable connecting means operativelyconnected to said housing and said base for moving said housing towardand away from said plane; and means operatively connected to said baseand each of said axles for independently adjusting the distance of eachaxle from said plane.

7. A machine for polishing surfaces of wood plates and like productscomprising, in combination, a base; conveyor means supported by saidbase for advancing the plates in a plane; a housing supported by saidbase and having an open side adjacent to and facing the plane in whichsaid plates are advanced; a pair of buff rollers in said housing andhaving each an axle substantially parallel to said plane and extendingin a direction transverse to the direction in which the plates areadvanced; adjustable connecting means operatively connected to saidhousing and said base for moving said housing toward and away from saidplane; and means for independently adjusting the distance of each axlefrom said plane, said means comprising a pair of arms for each of saidbuff rollers, said arms being pivotally connected at one end thereof tosaid housing for turning movement about an axis substantially parallelto the axle of the respective buif roller and turnably carrying at theother end thereof the axle of the respective butt" roller, said one endof one arm of each pair being also connected to said housing for tiltingmovement about an axis substantially normal to said axle, and means fortilting said arms of each pair through the same angle about said axisparallel to said axle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,586,542 Weill June 1, 1926 2,118,763 Mason May 24, 1938 2,245,341Hormel June 10, 1941

